The important ramblings, rumblings and quixotic opinions of The Vails.

Nemo me impune lacessit

No one provokes me with impunity

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No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Article 1, Section 9, Constitution of the United States

If this is the law of the land...why in a republic (little r) and as republicans, do we allow mere POLITICIANS to the right to use a "title of office" for the rest of their lives as if it were de facto a patent of nobility. Because, as republicans, this should NOT be the case...just saying...

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Friday, December 24, 2010

If there was ever any doubt that JourList (or it's successor) isn't up and running...the current talking points by the MSM that the 111th Congress is the most productive since the Great Society initiative of Johnson in the 1960's should put that to rest. Pretty much every outlet from NBC to the LATimes is saying this almost verbatim.

Is it a coincidence when reporters and anchors all use the exact same words when describing the 111th Congress in such flattering and historic language? From network anchors in New York to local news across the country, where do they all get the same words?

So, the media hasn't stopped pitching the Obama Agenda...but they've forgotten that last month's election was a clear rejection of that agenda by voters. Nearly all of the key "moderate" Democrats who voted FOR the "Stimulus Package," ObamaCare and Cap & Trade were kicked out of office. Liberal revisionism is running rampant throughout the media. Even Mr. Obama has been bitten with the revisionist bug.

Nowhere was that revisionism more evident than in President Obama's comments late Wednesday in lauding the just-ended 111th Congress, and in particular its lame-duck conclusion: "A lot of folks in this town predicted that after the midterm elections, Washington would be headed for more partisanship and more gridlock. And instead, this has been a season of progress for the American people. That progress ... is a reflection of the message that voters sent in November, a message that said it's time to find common ground on challenges facing our country." A few paragraphs later, it became clear that Obama wants us to believe that voters meant for congressional Democrats and Republicans to find that common ground so they can do more of what made the 111th Congress "the most productive two years that we've had in generations.

The 112th Congress' mandate is to rollback all of the "progress" made by the last Congress. America doesn't want ObamaCare...and unlike claims immediately after it's passage, it hasn't grown more popular with time, was we, in the words of the former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), "learn what's in it." As recently as Dec 13, 2010, 56% oppose ObamaCare and want to see it voted down the incoming Congress.

Rasmussen Reports has a poll out today showing opposition to President Obama's health plan at 56 percent, and support at 41 percent. That's the lowest level of support so far this year.

Those numbers are much higher among the elderly, upon whose backs it will be paid...and by the middle class as they see their insurance rates rise due solely to the mandates within the cumbersome legislation. The number of exceptions being granted is higher and growing higher with every passing month. HHS Secretary has the power to grant companies exemptions to the provisions of this bill, and has already extended more than 100 so far.

If you still harbor any illusions that ObamaCare is a carefully constructed solution to a complex problem, just open your eyes and look at how many people are winning exemptions from it.

At least 111 waivers have been granted from ObamaCare thus far, covering over a million Americans. A list of approved applications for waivers can be found here. Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin decided to get in touch with a few of these applicants, and received this comment from the financial vice president of the Local 802 Musicians Health Fund in New York: “We got grandfathered in, because things were moving so fast, and we need time now to prepare for the law.” Does that sound like the work of a responsible design team, spending over a trillion of our dollars with the greatest of care?

But this doesn't even count those for regious purposes...Muslims and the Amish...just to name two such groups. Of course many Unions are fully exempt from the provisions as well. Here is a list of unions with more than 140,000 members now exempt from a provision in the health-reform law:

Then there's the regulatory over-reach...the FCCs "Net-Neutrality" regulations, that gives the government the power to seize websites they feel are not "neutral." The EPA's attempts to regulate into existence "Cap & Trade" that never made it out of the House...the list is lengthy, and the country does't want it.

But with the overt tilt of media bias...you'd never notice. JournoList is alive and well.

UPDATE: Instalanche! Thanks, Glenn. I straigntened up the post...to make sense. Please feel free to look around and comment freely.